Customer Reviews

Classical Music: A New Way of Listening

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Waugh has put together a beautiful book that describes what classical music is all about, with fine visual art to accompany the characteristics of the pieces/composers. Waugh is not a snob about classical music (and aptly describes the music snobs one may encounter). The only drawback is that the music excerpts are mostly quiet, pastoral pieces; wish he had put in more variety of classical works with thunder and lightening.

This book is excellent at introducing novice listeners to classical music. The essential difference to other books for new listeners is the author teaches the reader what to listen for. The reader doesn't need to have a prior musical background. There's no jargon to be overwhelmed by.

The accompanying CD has musical excerpts that demonstrate the author's point, which is really essential. You really understand what he's trying to tell you! None of the excerpts are very long, which makes it easy to flick from reading to listening and then back to reading again.

The design and layout of the book are superb. Lots of colour photos, diagrams make this book a pleasure to look at. The straightforward writing style, free of jargon, make this book an easy read, especially for people without musical training.

I surprised this book hasn't been re-printed. It's so good!